John Luther Adams: Become Ocean. Ebb and I.

“Become Ocean” by John Luther Adams from 2014 is a soul-flushing orchestral piece which conducts the listener in becoming an ocean and letting souls melt into waves, storms, and droplets. Through the course of the piece, Adams conveys his environmentalist motivations by provoking the inadvertent result of human consumption and avarice ultimately leading to the dissolution of all existence within the listener. Metaphorically, the listener moves with the waves and becomes acquainted with the being of an ocean.

After a foaming entrance, the piece begins with a calm harp but the mood shifts as chimes and drums are added. When trumpets and cellos join, the sound changes tremendously. Akin to waves moving and clashing, the audience is invited to float and let the soul wander. A second harp and oboes imitate a gentle breeze, while the sound of the chimes sets a steady rhythm and builds an adventurously swaying atmosphere. Trumpets create the impression of a wash of waves, and a sudden harmonization splashes the image of a calm sea. A strong and dramatic usage of spattering piano notes let a storm cover the waves and ruin the aforementioned calmness. And so, the waves slowly take their revenge and clash back, fighting against thunder and lightning until, after a beautiful crescendo, a soft serenity enfolds in the room. Increasingly, the waves revert to their natural behavior with soft violins unisono with the harp. Leisurely, the violins drown out the harp until they are all that can be heard, only for the trumpets to intervene, accompanied by louder chimes and piano keys which let the listener explore the depth of the ocean, the depth of the I. As the sun reflects in the waves, the violins return to let the soul swim back to catch a breath of most air. Slowly again, the waves move first with the aid of chimes, then the entire orchestra joins, recomposing itself to create mounting waves. The waves then collapse, rewind, dance in the wind which is imitated by flutes and trumpets. As the waves reach a certain rhythm, the sky is overcast and the sun begins to set through the rising of trumpets. Tranquility drenches the room. Until steadily, violins and violas reintroduce a bubbly mood in a vivace tempo which allows chimes to gleam like faint stars in the night sky. Then, as dusk hushes the clouds and the sun disappears behind the enormity of the ocean, the orchestra audibly breaks into another crescendo and slowly fades into the horizon. For a moment, the rhythm slows down, only to let the harp, recreating the wind, move the first waves again at dawn. Another day begins. The moon bids farewell to the tides and moves aside for the bright sun. The oboes let the oceanic waves glisten underneath its rays before the wind approaches them once again with violins and trumpets. A horn announces a great wave, which is supported by oboes but it is halted by smaller waves through violins. The cellos take over and introduce a new rhythm of chimes to conduct another dancing of the wind and the waves. It is not a storm but a match between two powers, the strings and the winds. The contest ends calmly, without a winner, as both sides dim into a quietness, calming the listener. And yet, the journey has not found its end. The waves move again through the strings, and the winds join and this time, the waves clash and move as though a storm threatens to possess them again. Still, the winds gather clouds and the chimes release a splutter of rain before the waves move further into the back of the beyond, leaving the rain and the clouds – only for them to return and confess through strings that in fact, the fight transforms still existence into dripping life. Thus, the cellos conclude the back and forth and let them explore together, as an entity. They travel through the strings, letting waves rush and wash over the shores, letting the clouds collect droplets to blanket the sky as the orchestra sets a darker mood with lower, fading notes. Once again, the audience is allowed a moment to breathe before the strings assemble in a windstorm, a whirlwind of nature and power and mood swings, only to become pacific again suddenly. The waves keep moving, keep playing with the weather, and dancing with the storm as the cellos take over. When the winds join again, a storm erupts, dismantling everything around until nothing is left and thus, the composition is concluded.

“Becoming Ocean” elicits both a feeling of vastness and incredible brevity at the same time. A daily need stands in stark contrast with the whole, the beginning and the end of the literal and metaphorical food chain become apparent – as well as the individual inability for change in a system which is seemingly impossible to deconstruct alone. It is a plea towards humanity to reconsider the ability and force of nature because ultimately, nature can and will assume control.